title: Pneumoperitoneum and ascites secondary to bacterial overgrowth.
abstract: Abdominal bloating, weight loss, pneumoperitoneum, and ascites developed in a 73-year-old woman. She had scleroderma, megajejunum, small bowel dysmotility, and bacterial overgrowth. After treatment with a course of antibiotics, the pneumoperitoneum and ascites resolved, but her symptoms and the pneumoperitoneum recurred after the antibiotics were stopped. She was placed on cyclical antibiotics, and during a 2-year follow-up period she has remained well. The pneumoperitoneum and ascites may have been secondary to small bowel bacterial overgrowth. Ours is the first case that demonstrates this association.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City 52242-1081, USA.
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Raju
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001201:Ascites / Q000209:etiology*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008365:Manometry; D011027:Pneumoperitoneum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D011859:Radiography